ISL 2018 | Phil Brown appointment reeks of meticulous planning rather than panic call

One needs either courage or utter desperation to take risks and in Pune’s case, it seemed more to be the second option after they ended the first half of the season with seven losses from 12 matches. They would now have to win all the remaining six matches to fancy any chances of qualifying for the playoffs. And although many would think that Phil Brown’s convincing resume to perform in such situations was the sole biggest reason for his appointment, it seems to run way deeper than that.

Pune’s stallions have pulled the heavy midfield setup well and Brown’s long love for it makes this appointment look meticulously planned.

Another huge advantage for Brown would be Pune’s formation that Reddy has practiced in the last month or two. Pune’s stallions have pulled the heavy midfield setup well and Brown’s long love for it makes this appointment look meticulously planned. Brown has mostly used a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1 setup throughout his career and when used to perfection, it helped him get his career’s two biggest wins away at Arsenal and Tottenham. Given the urgency of the situation and the instant impact he is expected to make, Brown would put his best feet forward and a 4-5-1 changing into a 4-4-2 is a likely coy expected.

The familiarity doesn’t here either. Brown’s best wins had two strikers - the towering Daniel Cousin and heavy worker Marlon King – up top who executed his strategy to perfection. And guess what? He would have a towering Robin Singh and veteran Iain Hume to give shape to his vision again this time. Brown has previously worked with Hume for two seasons during his time at Preston NorthEnd, where the striker had managed to score 14 goals and six assists in 29 matches, and the Canadian international finally getting his mojo his old task master could make the best out of him again.

Apart from Pune, the one major thing worth noting would also be the theatrics Brown would be bringing to the Indian league. While he assured there wouldn’t be any more on-field speeches happening this time round, Brown is defined by his flamboyant, out-spoken nature and he won’t be able to subdue that. We still remember the Hull City manager singing a verse of Sloop John B, by The Beach Boys, as he decided to give the lyric a more positive slant, “I don’t wanna go home/ this is the best trip I’ve ever been on,” after Hull escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth despite losing the last match of the season to Manchester United in 2009.

More than all his experience, and the above prerequisites that he somehow accidentally seems to tick, Brown is that bundle of energy that Pune so badly need, who doesn’t bother giving his lads a dressing room talk on pitch, and is the first to apologize if a training pitch brawl bothers a women brigade outside.